France had to rely a fortunate 37th-minute penalty by striker Thierry Henry to tame the South American champions in a tense match at Lyon.

The defending champions, deprived of playmaker Zinedine Zidane and influential midfielder Patrick Vieira, appeared to lack inspiration for most of the match.

They were lucky to be awarded their penalty after defender Ruben Velasquez was penalised for handball when a cross was thumped against his right arm.

The Colombians, who dominated for most of the second half, demanded a penalty of their own in the 77th minute when striker Elson Becerra was fouled by French captain Marcel Desailly in but instead Becerra was booked for diving.

The South Americans continued to press forward though and were frustrated when Velasquez hit the bar two minutes from time.

Also on three points are Japan, who had an easy evening against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris with all their goals coming from their Italy-based midfield duo.

Reggina's Shunsuke Nakamura scored twice and captain Hidetoshi Nakata of Parma slotted his side's second goal in the 65th in a match the Japanese dominated from the start.

New Zealand are still without a win in the eight-nation tournament having lost all three games in their previous appearance in 1999.

"We could have scored one or maybe two more goals in the dying minutes of the game but I'm happy with the performance of my players tonight," said Japanese coach Zico.

"There was not much pressure and it looked like a training match which is good for the next two games."

Japan take on title-holders France in St Etienne on Friday, hoping to get revenge for their 1-0 defeat in the 2001 final.